A Certain Wandering Martial Artist
by Eimii
Summary: When you're always either at the right place at the wrong time or the wrong place at the right time, the most important thing is often how you got there...
1. Notice

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 was created by Takashi Rumiko and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun/A Certain Scientific Railgun was created by Kamachi Kazuma. I claim no rights to any of the settings or characters used in this piece of fan fiction and i am not being compensated in any way.

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**[NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION]**

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Staring dumbly at the screen for a long moment, Saten Ruiko released a sigh of relief and set her phone aside. "Supplementary lessons?" It was still sort of jarring how these things were all delivered electronically in Academy City, but at least she wasn't going to be arrested or expelled. She deserved no less, as stupid as she'd been. If only she'd trusted Uiharu and the others more and not been so..._ jealous_.

_Uiharu got kidnapped because of me. I can't ever let that happen again. __**Nothing**__ is worth that, not even..._

Digging her fingers into the thick grass at her hip, Ruiko pulled up a handful and held it in front of her face, staring at it intensely.

_Nothing._ The blades wouldn't budge an inch. In fact, she could barely even remember what it was like when she was on the Level Upper network and she could almost _see_ the force calculations locking together like glowing puzzle pieces in her mind's eye.

_This is what I hurt Uiharu for?_ A sudden gust of wind disturbed the pitiful little pile of grass in her hand and for a moment Ruiko was elated, but then the beating of wings reached her ears and a huge black crow alighted beside her just long enough to grab her forgotten phone in its claws and fly off.

"Hey, wait!" Scrambling to her feet, Ruiko pelted down the riverbank after the crow but she could already tell this was a race she was doomed to lose. Seeing a boy sitting on the hillside a bit farther down the bank, Ruiko waved at him and shouted, "Hey, you! Help me catch that bird! It's got my phone!" Maybe he could scare the low-flying theif into turning around or something.

Instead, he stood up and began twirling something around in his hand while his head turned to track the bird. Ruiko wondered if he had a sling or something but then he whipped his arm forward and a soft _buzzing_ sound cut the air as a yellow-black _disk_ arced out to clip the tip of one of the bird's wings in mid-flap before returning to his hand.

For a moment Ruiko was horrified as the crow dropped like a stone, but then it recovered enough to land with an audible _thump_. Letting go of her phone, the bird hopped and hobbled away, vainly trying to stay aloft despite the inch of lead feathers now missing from its right wing, the slice as clean and straight as if it had been done with a knife.

"Is... Is it broken?" The boy asked, walking up beside Ruiko as she stooped to examine their prize. His voice was somewhat sheepish sounding and when Ruiko looked up she saw that he was about her age; handsome, if somewhat ruffled looking, with hazel eyes and a nervous smile.

He wore an old military-style boy's uniform so it was impossible to tell what school he was from, but he had a yellow and black bandana holding up his thick, shaggy fringe that was decidedly non-standard - and _another one_ in his hand! "Hey, did you just _throw that?_" Ruiko demanded, eyes wide.

"Huh?" Looking down at his hand, the boy stared at the second bandana as though he'd forgotten all about it. "Oh, yeah."

"Cool!" Leaning forward, Ruiko grabbed his hand and began examining the weapon, but the piece of cloth felt entirely normal to her. "You made _this_ cut that bird's wing? Are you telekinetic?"

Blushing and looking a bit overwhelmed, the boy snatched his hand away, leaving the bandana behind. "Tele- what? No! It's just a martial arts technique! Normally you're supposed to do it with a silk gymnastics ribbon, but that's kind of girly so I figured out how to-"

"A _gymnastics ribbon?_" Ruiko interrupted, peering at him incredulously. "Like in..." She held up the bandana and posed as though she were holding the wand of a gymnastics ribbon, and was rewarded by the boy going an even darker shade of red. "Haha! You do _rhythmic gymnastics?_"

"My- my mom taught me!" The boy sputtered, gritting his teeth and displaying a pair of surprisingly sharp-looking fangs. "It's a very demanding style - and it's useful! I stopped that bird, right?"

"That you did," Ruiko agreed, though she didn't let up on her suspicious stare; vampire boy was kind of cute when he was flustered. "'Martial arts,' huh? I've never heard of any martial art that teaches you to cut things with _cloth_ - at least, not outside of cheesy Chinese action movies. Are you _sure_ you're not telekinetic?"

Glaring at her, the boy crossed his arms and pursed his lips in the most adorable little pout. "Look, I don't even know what that word _means_, but it's a martial art! I still have the letters that mom sent me when she was teaching me, and she didn't say _anything _about tele- kina- whatsis."

_Letters?_ Ruiko finally allowed herself a small, friendly smile which seemed to take the edge off the boy's simmering irritation. "Care to show me?" she asked innocently. "Thanks for the help by the way. I'm Saten Ruiko: number one urban legend hunter of Academy City! Pleased to meet you."

A look of confusion clouded the boy's face and he mouthed the words 'Academy City' under his breath before replying, "Hibiki Ryouga; pleased to meet you." With a slight jolt the newly named 'Hibiki Ryouga: Martial Artist' returned his attention to Ruiko, apprehension creeping into his eyes. "Um... I'd like to show you, but the letters are back at my house and I_ really_ need to get going. I have a duel this afternoon and I don't want to be late."

Ruiko's eyes bugged once again. "A _duel?_ Like, a kung fu duel to the death?" She struck her best Bruce Lee pose by way of illustration.

"Exactly!" Ryouga nodded seriously. Clenching a tense fist in front of his face, he glared up at the sky in defiance. "Today, I will finally crush my greatest enemy, The Bread Thief: Saotome Ranma!"

"_Awesome! _Can I watch?"

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0

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"C'mon, don't mope! I thought you were pretty amazing out there, and it looked to me like you almost had him a few times!" Putting her hand on Ryouga's shoulder, Ruiko gave the gloom-faced boy a reassuring shove that caused him to spill a bit of tea on his shirt.

Ryouga didn't seem to mind however, and a bashful smile tugged at his lips. "Thanks, Saten-san, but you don't have to say stuff like that just to make me feel better." Releasing a long sigh, Ryouga hung his head once more. "I can't believe I lost to that jerk - and now I can't even challenge him to a rematch! Stupid Ranma, running off to China..."

Holding her tongue, Ruiko just gave a 'What can you do?' shrug. For all that Ryouga griped about daily humiliation and stolen lunches at school, Saotome Ranma had seemed like pretty decent guy to her. He'd even offered to lead them to Ryouga's house after the fight.

_And what a relief __**that**__ was!_ She hastily hid a grimace behind her tea cup.

Ryouga's house was right next to the empty lot where Ranma and Ryouga had had their fight, but Ruiko doubted that he could have gotten them there before morning. It had taken them _hours_ just to get to the duel site in the first place, and that was _with_ the school-issued ID with Ryouga's address on it that Ruiko had eventually been able to shake out of the boy. She'd been starting to wonder if Ryouga was just _pretending_ to be lost in order to lure her into some sort of trap.

_It's a good thing he's just awkward and terrible with directions. If he really were some sort of creep I'd be done for._

Ryouga and Ranma's bounding battle between earth and sky had seriously been the most incredible non-esper fight she had ever seen, and Ruiko really did think that Ryouga could have won with a bit more luck. Ranma clearly had the skill advantage, but given that he'd just left on a 'training trip' with _his father_, while Ryouga apparently had to make do with the pile of dog-eared letters and '10-Minute Kung Fu!' manuals spread out on the table in front of them, Ruiko knew which boy _she_ would call the more impressive.

Speaking of which... "Are you_ sure_ you don't want to keep these?" She asked for the fourth time, uncertainly fingering the stack of letters that broke down the finer points of 'Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics' in the gentle, patient words of a mother teaching her son.

"It's fine," Ryouga replied, waving them toward her. "I've already taken out all the pages that are- that you don't- um... _need_." Reddening, Ryouga knocked back the rest of his tea in one long swallow, then slammed the cup down hard enough that Ruiko thought she heard it crack. "I- I'm going to make some more tea! Do you want a refill?" He asked, grinning shakily at her.

_He really is a good guy,_ Ruiko mused, thinking about how she'd have to call her own mom once she got home; she wasn't looking forward to it, but at least she could say that she wasn't getting sent home a failure. _I wonder if they've started supper yet._

A glance at the clock on the wall sent an unpleasant shiver down Ruiko's spine. "Ack- I didn't know it was so late! I have to go! It's already _hours_ past curfew!" Pushing away from the table, Ruiko stooped to grab her school bag while Ryouga also stood and began sweeping up the papers on the table.

"Do you know where the nearest bus stop is?" Ryouga asked worriedly, handing her the stack of notes as he followed her to the door.

Ruiko shook her head. "No, but I should be fine." Ryouga's ironic questioning of_ her ability_ to navigate wasn't entirely unfounded; his house was in a much older-looking part of the city (and before today Ruiko hadn't thought that Academy City _had_ 'older parts'). She also hadn't been able to get a signal on her phone since before they'd arrived for Ryouga's duel, but Ruiko was sure'd be able to find one of the city's ubiquitous public information screens at the first major street she came to.

Frowning as he opened the door for her, Ryouga looked out at the darkened street. "Maybe I should walk you home," he rumbled unhappily. "It really is too late for a girl to be on the street alone."

Ruiko quirked an eyebrow at her new friend. "I appreciate the sentiment Hibiki-san, but If you did that you wouldn't get home _yourself_ until sometime next week."

"I wouldn't- that's not- _ugh!_" Shooting her a snaggle-toothed snarl of frustration, Ryouga squared his shoulders mulishly. "At least let me call you a taxi! I think the phone bill is paid up for this month." Not waiting for Ruiko to reply, Ryouga escaped back into the kitchen.

Despite Ryouga's obvious concern, Ruiko couldn't help but giggle at the thought that the lost boy's house still had a land line. _I guess his family really __**doesn't**__ spend much time here._ It was kind of sad to even think about it, but now that she knew where he lived Ruiko was sure Uiharu could work some sort of computer magic to find Ryouga the next time she wanted to visit - which would be soon, since she didn't know the first thing about martial arts and she was going to need a lot of help if she wanted to get good enough to protect her friends!

Moving to shut the door against the evening chill Ruiko noticed a letter in the corner that must have fallen through the mail slot and gotten brushed aside when they'd arrived. Crouching down to grab it, she was forced to do a double-take when she saw the date stamp at the top. "Hibiki-san?" she called, suppressing a chuckle. "You really need clean more often! You've got a letter here that was sent before I was born!"

"Huh?" Ryouga called back intelligently. He returned a moment later, his frown slightly less intense than before. "The cab is on its way," he noted, accepting the ancient letter from her hands and examining it. "What are you talking about? This was sent last week."

"...Eh?"

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0

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_How did people __**live**__ without constant access to the internet?_

How on earth was she supposed to figure out what was going on if she couldn't do any _research?_ For a moment Ruiko was tempted to ask Ryouga if he could get on top of one of the nearby buildings to see if he could get a signal with her phone, but she wasn't sure if she could handle another disappointment. Academy City provided student phone plans via its own private network of cellular towers, guaranteeing great signal anywhere in the city - except apparently they_ hadn't been built yet!_

Hooking her legs through the rungs of the jungle gym she'd perched atop, Ruiko laid back against the cold metal bars and stared up at the sky, trying to clear her head.

_The stars are so bright, just like back home._

The small town of her birth didn't have nearly the light pollution that Academy City did. The washed-out, starless night sky of the city had always struck her as kind of lonely, but apparently it hadn't always been that way_. _This was definitely the right block; the lines of the mountains and sea, the angle of the canal at the end of the street, the gentle slope of the hill; all the big things were just as she remembered them. Unfortunately, the street names were all wrong and there was a playground where her apartment building used to be (or would someday be?)

As much as she loved to investigate 'paranormal mysteries,' Ruiko was starting to think that she needed a new hobby. _First the Level Upper and now __**this?**_ It hurt her head to think that she might actually be _in the past._ Did Ryouga have some sort of freaky psychic time travel power?_ Did she? _Ruiko knew first hand how amazing espers could be, but there should be limits!

The _weirdest_ part was how 'old-timey' everything looked. When she'd first arrived in Academy City she'd spent an entire week gawking at how high-tech and futuristic everything was and this was the _exact opposite_ of that feeling. Dusty brick and mortar replaced gleaming metal and glass on the faces of buildings. Flickering yellow sodium bulbs stood in for actinic white LEDs in the lamps that lined narrower, more winding streets. It was all incredibly surreal, like she was walking around in a giant museum exhibit.

"Are you alright, Saten-san?"

Turning her head toward that worried-sounding inquiry, Ruiko saw Ryouga staring up at her from the foot of the jungle gym. The cab driver was sitting a little ways away on the chain swings, his white gloves ghosting through the darkness as he brought an ember-tipped cigarette to his lips. He looked more confused than concerned, but either reaction was understandable. She'd been halfway hysterical during the ride over and the driver had almost kicked them out when she'd started trying to navigate by landmark.

Come to think of it, he'd looked _even more_ confused when she'd pulled out her phone to try the GPS (again to no avail.) _Did they even __**have**__ cellphones in the 90's?_

"Saten-san?" Ryouga called again, more urgently this time.

"I'm fine now," Ruiko lied, pushing herself up into a sitting position and stuffing her phone in her skirt pocket. "Hibiki-san, do you have a cellphone?" she asked, giving the _especially_ lost-looking boy a tired smile to show that she was okay.

Returning an unconvincing, tight-lipped smile of his own, Ryouga ruined it immediately by pulling his lips back in a sneer of disgust that displayed those _fascinating _teeth of his. "I've had _plenty_ of cellphones - defective pieces of junk!" he spat, crossing his arms. "Not one of them worked for longer than a week! Some even quit working the same day I bought them!"

Ruiko resisted the urge to ask if Ryouga ever remembered to _charge_ his phones. He was kind of quick to complain, but he meant well. "Do you have any of them with you?" she asked instead.

"Well..." Ryouga considered for a moment, then reached for his now very reasonable-seeming travel pack. "I have this one that I kept to use as a clock," he explained, unbuttoning a side pocket and pulling out something limp and green that looked more like a dead frog or a water balloon than a cellphone. "I really liked this one too. It's tough and waterproof and you can charge it like this-" Ryouga then proceeded to grab two of the thing's dangling little froggy legs and began to spin it in a tight circle like it was one of his bandanas.

Stopping after a few seconds, Ryouga hopped up to top of the jungle gym in one effortless motion, landed next to Ruiko and offered it up for inspection. Grabbing the 'phone' by the middle, he _squeezed_, causing its little dot-eyed 'head' to bulge comically with a liquid squelching sound. When Ryouga opened his hand again a small square hologram appeared above the doll's 'back,' declaring in unmistakable English words **[NO SIGNAL]** before reverting to a digital clock screen.

"Misaka-san would _go wild_ if she saw that," Ruiko mused aloud, earning an odd look from her friend, but her mind was already working too fast to stop for explanations. While Ruiko had seen holographic screens all over Academy City, she'd never heard of one being put in a _phone_ before. _That thing's __**definitely**__ not from around here, and if Hibiki-san's phones __**always**__ stop working-_

Seeing her lost in thought again, Ryouga moved to put the phone away. "Don't worry, if you need to call someone to pick you up we can-"

"I'm already _where_ I need to be, Hibiki-san. It's the _when_ I'm having trouble with," Ruiko corrected, holding her hand up. "Can I see that for a moment?" she asked, promising with her eyes that all would become clear with time.

Ryouga's brow furrowed in confusion but he relinquished the phone without comment and sat down beside her to look over her shoulder. Once it was actually in her hands Ruiko noted that the device really did feel like it was filled with some sort of dense gel; no matter how much she poked, pinched, squeezed or fondled it she could detect no hard internal parts whatsoever.

Ruiko's tender ministrations did have some rather amusing effects on the phone, however. It kept making cute little noises of froggy protest and its 'skin' actually changed color several times. There also seemed to be some sort of navigation scheme tied to certain kinds of manipulation. She managed to find an internet browser, the screensaver settings and the music player's karaoke mode before she finally figured out what she was doing.

All of this only confirmed for Ruiko that Ryouga's phone was from the future, just like her, but she already had a few ideas of where she might find even better evidence. After backing out to the phone's 'home' panel she scrolled down until she found an icon that looked like a paper envelope. Putting the tip of her finger through the image and giving the phone a little squeeze, she opened the e-mail application.

"Bingo!" Ruiko grinned as she eyed the one unread message in the inbox. It was the carrier activation notice and it was dated June 1st- _"2059!?"_

"Hmm?"

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0

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"You think I'm _psychic?_ Like- like crystal balls and bending spoons _with the power of my mind?_" Staring at her like she'd grown a second head, the bandanaed boy wiggled his fingers near his temples for spooky emphasis.

"Espers can do all kinds of amazing things!" Ruiko countered, slightly offended that a boy who could throw pieces of cloth like they were _ninja stars_ thought that espers were _silly_. "In my time scientists have discovered _thousands_ of unique esper powers. One of my best friend's co-workers can teleport from place to place like it was nothing. I don't think it's _too much_ of a stretch to say that you might be able to travel through time the same way. How else would you explain _all this?_"

Ruiko waved her hand over the clutter that once again covered Ryouga's kitchen table. Her phone and his phone were laid out side by side in the middle, along with their student IDs and the coins and bills they'd dug out of their wallets. Various other bits and bobs complemented Ryouga's side of the table, including a baseball pennant they'd taken off of the wall in his bedroom and a movie ticket he'd found in his pocket.

"You have a Hanshin Tigers pennant from the _2003_ Japan Series Championship Game and people around here would probably just look at you funny if you told them how Jar Jar Binks ruined Star Wars," Ruiko pointed out, fingering the ticket stub. "All of my stuff is from the same year but yours is from all over the place, and I've already been tested as having no esper power whatsoever so it _must_ be you!"

That last admission made Ruiko cringe a bit internally, but Ryouga apparently didn't notice her discomfort. He was too busy gnashing his teeth and glaring at the items on the table like he thought he could somehow _intimidate _them into making sense. It was a valiant effort - those fangs of his could be _quite_ unnerving - but in the end the facts at hand remained stalwart in their defiance of reason.

"What can I do, then?" the lost boy growled, hanging his head so that his fringe covered his eyes. "I mean, if you can't go home because your home doesn't _exist_ yet, then it's like... it's like I _kidnapped_ you."

"Whoa! Hey!" Holding up her hands, Ruiko leaned forward to catch Ryouga's horrified gaze. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves - even if I _am_ sort of ahead of my time." Forcing a laugh, Ruiko suddenly wished that Ryouga was wearing a skirt; she'd know _exactly _how to break the tension then. "Um... it's at least half my fault anyway. My curiosity keeps getting me into trouble lately and I practically _begged_ you to let me watch your fight. You had no idea where or _when_ I was from-"

"-Or how to get you back," Ryouga grumbled, still determined to be gloomy and self-recriminating, though the hint of panic in his voice had thankfully passed. "It's not like we can just _walk_ back the way we came."

For a few seconds Ruiko racked her brain for something else she could say to make him feel better, but something about his choice of words kept nagging at her. They reminded her of one of those 'mystery spot' legends, where to get out you had to walk backwards. "That's exactly what we can do!" she crowed, slamming her palms down on the table top and making Ryouga jump. "We can go back!"

"Wha-?"

"Back to that riverbank where we first met, exactly the way we came!" Ruiko clarified, not giving Ryouga a moment to dig in his heels. "Even for espers who can't consciously control their powers they don't usually just go off at _random._ If we can replicate the circumstances, retrace our footsteps, maybe we can make it happen again - and when we get to _my time_ we can find someone to_teach you_ how to control it!"

She could almost see the gears turning in Ryouga's head as the corners of his mouth twitched up and down, unable to commit to either a smile or a frown. "If I could _control_ it, would that mean that I wouldn't get... _lost _any more?" he ventured, clearly afraid to hope.

Ruiko gave Ryouga her biggest grin. "Better than that! If you could control it you could go to the future and find out the next time your Tigers will win the Series and make a _fortune_ betting on them!"

"You mean they haven't broken the Curse of the Colonel even back when you're from?"

"Nope!"

"That's horrible!"

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0

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"Hibiki-san... let's stop... for a second!" Panting between words, Ruiko trudged the last few steps to the top of the hill before slumping forward and planting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "I don't... I don't think this is working."

Despite having spent the last eight hours walking Ryouga didn't appear the least bit winded as he came to a halt a few steps behind her, but the crestfallen look on his face was almost infectious. "Dammit, I _knew_ it couldn't be that easy," he growled, hanging his head and swinging his fist around to give a nearby tree a smack that shook loose a pair of amorous squirrels.

"Don't... don't give up on me just yet!" Ruiko quipped, trying to remain upbeat in the face of Ryouga's penchant for melodrama and her own growing desperation. Straightening, she wiped the sweat from her brow turned to face the lost boy. "I just need to think about this again," she assured with a confident smile.

_At least it's only May here,_ she noted, taking a moment to watch the angry rodents scamper off. Ruiko cringed at the thought of doing this under the blazing summer sun she'd left behind. _I'd have died of heat stroke before we finished the first run through!_

It had taken most of the morning to reconstruct their meandering, nonsensical path from the empty lot to the point where Ruiko thought they might have entered the past - or at least she _hoped_ that's what they'd done. When they'd been rushing to Ryouga's duel she hadn't really been paying attention to her surroundings until she'd cottoned to the fact that Ryouga had _no idea_ where he was going, so she was mostly going by half-remembered street names and things that had caught her eye, like drainage canals or interesting buildings.

From there, their only choice had been to experiment; they'd repeatedly follow that exact path until Ryouga's power activated or Ruiko remembered more of it. It was an incredibly nerve-wracking experience and Ruiko felt like she was going to go cross-eyed from trying to split her attention between keeping them on track, identifying turns they might have missed and keeping Ryouga from wandering off.

That last item was the hardest part, Ruiko mused, eyeing Ryouga cautiously as he unshouldered his ever-present travel pack and began rooting through it. Though Ruiko could hardly blame him for not trusting navigational cues that kept_ changing_ on him, Ryouga's tendency to just go his own way was getting kind of irritating. She was sure she would have lost him half a dozen times by now if she hadn't been watching him like a hawk.

Ruiko felt her eyebrows travel almost to her hairline as the bandanaed boy gave an exclamation of triumph and pulled a big, hairy _coconut_ out of his pack. Giving the fruit a sharp chop with the blade of his hand, Ryouga lifted off the coconut's pitted crown and offered the fruit to her. "Here, this should help," he explained.

"Hibiki-san... why do you have a _coconut_ in your bag?" Ruiko asked, hesitantly accepting the sloshing bulb of cloudy white juice.

"Um..." Ryouga had to think about it for a second before responding. "A jogger once told me that it's good to drink coconut water when you're training, so I grabbed a few the last time I saw a palm tree."

"I see..." _And __**when**__ was the last time you saw a __**palm tree**__ in this city?_ Despite this strange little mystery the juice was refreshing, if a bit warm, and Ruiko was reminded of why she couldn't stay angry at Ryouga for _too long_. It was like kicking a puppy who was staring up at you with huge, eager eyes after making a mess - though the messes _this_ puppy made usually involved punching giant holes in things that were in his way.

Taking another sip while Ryouga rearranged the contents of his pack, Ruiko pondered their predicament. Could she be mistaken about where they'd crossed over? She was almost certain that the remainder of their original trip had been made in her time, but... _Maybe we should try finishing the path to the riverbank?_

That was a daunting prospect for several reasons. Ruiko knew the area in her own time, of course, but all the streets would be different now and she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings _at all_ when she'd first starting following Ryouga; she'd been too busy peppering him with questions about martial arts and his upcoming duel with Saotome Ranma.

_That was when the transition must have happened, though_ - when she wasn't paying attention to anything but Ryouga. It sort of reminded her of something she'd read in her text books about the science behind esper powers, about how you could never know both the exact speed, direction and position of a quantum particle at the same time. "Hmm... What was that called again? The uncertainty principle? The observer effect?"

"Huh?"

"I'm just wondering if I'm paying _too much_ attention to where we're going," Ruiko explained, though this only seemed to deepen the furrow of confusion between Ryouga's brows. "Maybe for the rest of this run you should lead," she elaborated.

"Oh!" Ryouga expression cleared immediately. "Well, if you think that would be _best_," he hedged unconvincingly. Her friend clearly didn't enjoy being led around by the nose like an idiot, but Ryouga's elation did nothing to still the butterflies that had started fluttering like mad in Ruiko's stomach.

If she was right about this 'observer effect' thing, then _that_ could definitely be a problem. "Hmm... how do I _stop_ myself from paying attention, though?" Ruiko wondered aloud. Putting the coconut under her arm, she reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out the bandana that Ryouga had given her the other day. "I could probably use this as a blindfold," she observed, stretching the cloth out between her hands, "but then we'd have to go really slow I'd have to hold your hand or something to-"

All hint of comfort vanished from Ryouga's face and posture in a rush of incandescent red that went right to the tips of his ears. _"H-hu-ho-hold your- your-"_ Looking down at his hands, Ryouga nervously picked a stray piece of coconut hair from his shirt and began rubbing it between his fingers so vigorously that Ruiko wondered if it might catch fire.

"Maybe we don't need to go _that far!_" Ruiko blurted, feeling a bit of heat rising from her own cheeks. "I just need to be distracted enough that I'm not watching where we're going! We could- talk more! Or... um..." Remembering what had been so interesting to her _before_, she tossed the empty coconut into the bushes and hoisted her school bag in front of her. "Training! You said you could give me some pointers so the stuff in the manuals would make more sense!" She slapped her bag in a 'put it right here!' motion for emphasis.

"Yeah, we could do that!" Ryouga agreed, relief pouring off of him in runnels of cold sweat. He lowered his gaze to her bag and for a moment Ruiko was afraid he might actually _hit it_, but then he crouched down and started making more room in his own pack. "Here, hand me that," he muttered absently, holding out his hand.

Once Ruiko's things were safely(?) stored away, Ryouga returned his attention to his new 'student,' a contemplative look in his eyes. He circled her slowly for a second, then looked down the gentle hill they had to descend before nodding to himself.

"Okay, I don't know if there's a 'right' way to do this with beginners, how about we make it like an oni game?" he suggested. "I'll jog in front and you follow right behind me. I'll count while I jog and when I get to ten I'll turn around and you'll try to attack me. I try to block or dodge your attacks until I get to fifteen, and then we'll start over. I won't count at the same speed every time so you'll have to listen and watch to know when I'm going to turn around."

"That... actually sounds like it might be fun," Ruiko noted, slightly surprised. It also sounded like it might be enough to keep her from looking around too much. "But what if I trip or something? I don't even know how to punch right yet, much less run and punch at the same time."

"I won't let you get hurt," Ryouga assured her with that serious, jaw-clenching,_ 'I'd take a bullet for you, Mr. President,'_ look that you so saw often in the movies. "And you're right: We need to start by teaching you how to throw a basic punch."

Moving to stand beside her, Ryouga took a broad-legged, formal-looking stance and curled his arms at his sides. "This is called Horse stance," he explained. "You won't really be able to stand like this when you run, but it's a good way to see the motions. I'll throw a few straight punches while you watch, and then I want you to stand like this and try to copy me..."

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**A Certain Wandering Martial Artist**

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Thanks to Scriviner and the rest of the folks at SpaceBattles for beta-reading! Comments, criticisms and reviews are appreciated!

~Eimii


	2. Emergency

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 was created by Takashi Rumiko and To Aru Kagaku no Railgun/A Certain Scientific Railgun was created by Kamachi Kazuma. I claim no rights to any of the settings or characters used in this piece of fan fiction and i am not being compensated in any way.

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**[EMERGENCY EXIT]**

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_Dear God, Buddha, Flying Spaghetti Monster or whoever is listening out there: help me get out of this and I promise I'll never complain about camping in the woods ever again!_

For a few seconds Ruiko stared up at the flame-licked sky, searching for a star to wish upon, but the air between the rooftops above was too choked with smoke to see much of anything. Finishing her silent prayer, she stuffed her mom's protection charm back in her pocket and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans before nervously creeping toward the the edge of the dumpster.

Thankfully it appeared that her ringing ears did not deceive her. Devilish shadows still danced upon the wall opposite the burning hotel but the devils themselves had departed. A quick glance up revealed that the fire escape she'd jumped from was empty as well.

_I'd better get out of here too if I don't want to get cooked,_ Ruiko realized, though she lingered a few moments longer just to be sure that she was truly alone. Death by immolation was actually pretty low on her list of worries at the moment, but death by crazy men with guns was still very much a pressing concern.

_I hope Ryouga-kun is okay..._

Ruiko couldn't hear gunfire anymore but that didn't mean that Ryouga had led their attackers far. _He'd __**better not**__ have gone far!_ If she lost him now, or... no, the lack of shooting _had to mean_ that Ryouga had won! She'd seen him stop _bullets_ with a _bed sheet_ not five minutes ago! _There's no way those psychos could beat him! I just have to make sure I don't get __**myself**__ shot trying to find him._

Trying to forget how _pale_ Ryouga had been as he'd twirled his improvised shield and shouted for her run, Ruiko self-consciously tugged on the straps of her pack and forced herself to take two shaky steps into the flickering Halloween half-light of the alleyway. Emboldened by the fact that she wasn't greeted by the bark of automatic weapons, Ruiko crouched low and began darting from one deep shadow to the next, making her way toward the T-intersection at the end of the street.

A few meters before her goal she took shelter behind another sizable pile of garbage to listen for people. Unfortunately, the roar and crackle of the burning building was getting louder as the fire progressed downward, making it harder to tell if the street beyond was occupied. Her stinging eyes and scratchy throat were getting worse as well, and she could tell that she was about to start coughing at any moment. Coughing would be _bad_, and _totally_ incompatible with hiding so that she didn't get shot.

Inching down one wall, then retreating to repeat the ritual on the other side, Ruiko relaxed slightly; it looked like the coast was clear in both directions. Since it appeared that she wasn't in any _immediate_ danger she considered for a second before turning right at the connecting alley. The left path would have led her along the side of the hotel while the shadows deepened along the right path as the fire grew more distant, allowing her to make faster progress.

An almost eerie silence descended as Ruiko left the hotel further and further behind. Even more unnerving, the buildings on either side of her were concrete high-rises with nary a door in sight, leaving her feeling painfully exposed despite the sound-swallowing darkness. A slash of pale gray in the distance brought her up short as she scrambled to become one with the wall but after a moment her eyes resolved the contours of a broad, paved sidewalk, suddenly lit in white as if the moon had just come out from behind the clouds.

_A main street, maybe?_ She wasn't sure she wanted to be out in the open right now but the continuing absence people sounds was really starting to get to her. She could at least take a look around to see if there were any signs of a fight before turning back. Quickening her pace, Ruiko angled toward the unlit side of the alley and took a peek around the corner.

The sight that greeted her on the other side was rather more than she was expecting.

_Sheesh, Ryouga-kun's __**definitely**__ been here,_ Ruiko observed as she surveyed the cracked concrete, gouged asphalt and shattered street lamps that ringed the four-lane crossing down the street. _Either that, or somebody starting tossing around hand grenades._That was another possibility that she wasn't willing to dismiss.

In the middle of the blasted intersection she spied an unmoving human form and Ruiko felt her gorge start to bubble up until she noticed the slow rise and fall of the man's chest. **_Of course_**_ he isn't going around __**killing **__people!_ Ruiko reminded herself, swallowing queasily. Noting that there _still_ appeared to be no-one else around she sidled a bit closer, scanning the street for dropped weapons as she tried to get a better look at the fallen thug.

_H-he's just a __**kid!**_ The man - no, the _boy_ could not be out of his teens! If fact, he looked like he might even be a wearing some sort of school uniform! _This place is __**insane!**__ Why would a __**student**__ be trying to __**kill us?!**_

Of course, the boy might have just been a bystander who got caught up in the fighting, but the long, thin slashes running down the length of his arm definitely could have been made by a gymnastics ribbon, while the rapid swelling around his eyes and cheeks made it clear that he had been punched in the face repeatedly by someone very strong. All told, Ruiko couldn't deny that it looked like Ryouga's handiwork. The suspiciously boot-shaped crater by his head was also a big hint.

Still, despite the nightmares she knew she would be having later, Ruiko couldn't bring herself to feel threatened by a half-dead teenager lying in a pool of his own blood. _And that is __**a whole lot**__ of blood,_ she noted uncomfortably, eyeing the dark puddle that spread from his right wrist to stain one side of his shirt entirely red. If someone didn't call him an ambulance soon it might not matter whether or not Ryouga had intended to spare him.

Chewing her lip, Ruiko dithered for half a minute before nodding her head with a stubborn frown. _Ryouga-kun wouldn't want something like that on his conscience any more than I do!_ she decided, grabbing the boy's hands and dragging him back into the relative comfort of the dark, creepy alleyway - which was decidedly less creepy now that she had an unconscious schoolboy assassin to keep her company.

_Where the heck __**is**__ everyone?_ she wondered, doffing her pack and pulling out the first aid kit that now enjoyed a permanent place atop her belongings. Taking another furtive look outside to make sure that the street was still strangely empty, Ruiko made quick work of wrapping the boy's arm in gauze to stanch the bleeding.

She then bound his wrists and ankles just in case he woke up and got rowdy - though if Ryouga really _had _administered this beating then the boy probably had more broken bones than she could count; not much danger there. Still, checking for hidden weapons would probably be the smart thing to do.

_I hope you don't have too many broken ribs!_ Ruiko grimaced sheepishly as she patted down the boy's front, sides and back. The only things she felt were the keys and wallet in his pockets but she balked at taking those out; her hands were covered in blood and she wasn't sure she wanted to leave incriminating fingerprints all over his personal items.

_Maaaybe I should go find a police box. They have those in Thailand, right?_ Ruiko thought she might have seen one earlier. Maybe the local police would know which way the _running midnight gun battle_ had gone - and at the very least they could probably call this guy an ambulance, even if she couldn't get the rest of her point across with her broken, middle school-level English.

_'Learn Spanish,' he says! 'It's way easier than English!'_ Shrugging her pack back on, Ruiko slung the boy's limp body over top of it in a fireman carry, grunting in surprise at his heft nearly dumped her flat on her face. _You're heavier than you look, Mr. Schoolboy Assassin._

After finding her balance again Ruiko exited the alleyway. She felt entirely too conspicuous as she plodded down the empty street, heading downhill toward the unbroken street lamps that lit the sidewalk about block away - though still no _people_ as far as the eye could see. **_That_**_ has got to be the craziest thing about this! It's like I turned the corner into the Twilight Zone, where the humans are all dead and sentient tofu rules the Earth..._

Then, at the bottom of the hill Ruiko nearly lost her balance once more as she turned to the side and came face-to-face with a hairy, foul-smelling, two-headed monster standing _just_ around the corner of the next block. Fortunately, the monster had much the same reaction and actually _did_ lose her balance, tipping over backwards and revealing herself to be one woman carrying another woman piggyback.

_"Owww!"_ the bespectacled brunette groaned after landing hard on her bottom and losing her grip on her taller, track-suited friend - who was apparently _dead drunk_ because she didn't protest at all after being laid out flat on the pavement. The pair of them positively _reeked_ of booze, which Ruiko took to be an encouraging development. Maybe they wouldn't notice-

"Ah! You're covered in blood!" the conscious woman shrieked, pointing a shaky, accusing finger at her.

"_Agh-_ Ah!" Coughing to get her wood-smoked vocal cords working again, Ruiko tried to put on her most innocent face, fully realizing that she probably looked like an axe murderess. "Y-yeah, um... there was a fight - or an accident, or something, and..."_ Wait, she speaks Japanese? __**That's**__ convenient._

"Here, let me take a look~aah!" the woman babbled, hopping shakily to her feet and nearly going right back over again as one ankle went left while the other went right. "P-put him down over here," she urged with a pained wince, waving Ruiko toward the tall glass shop window that she'd braced herself against before turning to her passed-out friend. "Senpai, please wake up!"

Putting the boy down as instructed, Ruiko cast an askance glance at the other (Japanese?) woman, who was still _firmly_ horizontal. "Um, maybe we should call an ambulance... or two?" she suggested.

"Oooh, this must look _terrible!_" her 'savior' fretted, smoothing out her rumpled skirt before she realized with a look of horror that her hands were now _also_ covered in blood from touching the boy. She recovered admirably however, giving Ruiko a genuinely reassuring smile. "Don't worry, though. You're safe with us. I'm Tessou Tsuzuri; I'm a teacher at Seisyun High School and Yomikawa-senpai and I are with Antiskill!"

"Oh! _Wow_, that's a... a..."

**_ANTISKILL?!_** The warm feeling of relief curdled like spoiled milk in the pit of Ruiko's stomach as she whipped her head around to the horizon, this time noticing the distinctive red warning lights that twinkled lazily in the darkness, marking the towers of the windmills that dotted Academy City's skyline. _But how?! I wasn't even __**with**__ him-_

"Um... why is this tied like this?" the woman kneeling next to her asked, interrupting Ruiko's descent into panic. Looking down, Ruiko found Tessou-san picking confusedly at the knot of gauze that bound the boy's wrists together.

"Oh! _That_..." Unable to think of any reason to lie, Ruiko gave a half-hearted shrug. "I thought he might be dangerous. Like I said, it looks like there was fight or something on the next street over - _where I found him_," she added quickly; she might not be lying, but having an alibi couldn't hurt.

Squeaking in surprise, the volunteer policewoman cringed away from the injured thug. "Ah! Um, okay. W-we'd better call the office then!" Wiping her slightly shaky hands on the boy's pant leg, Tessou-san reached into her purse and pulled out a phone.

For a moment Ruiko mulled over whether or not to suggest that they be prepared to detain him in case he was some sort of _professional killer,_ but where would she even _begin?_ Besides, she was pretty sure Antiskill wouldn't just forget about him once he got medical attention, and when they found out that he was in the country illegally they would do their own investigation.

That gave her least a day to get her story straight, just in case he said he was looking for _her._ Given that he'd probably think he was still in _Thailand - _and almost _twenty years _in the past - they'd probably just think he was crazy-

_But what if it __**hasn't**__ been that long? _Ruiko was fairly certain that she was further into the future than she _had been,_ since most of Academy City _didn't exist_ in Ryouga's time_,_ but that didn't mean that she was _anywhere close_ to when she'd left.

An anxious lump formed in Ruiko's throat as she looked to the skies once more, this time searching for one of the public information blimps that regularly circulated over the city. If there wasn't any important news to report the giant screens on the sides of the blimps would normally display either the current date and time or the weekly weather forecast.

Her heart rose a little as she spotted a blimp proclaiming a week's worth of sunny, 30-degree days ahead; at least it was the right _season. _Then, after a few seconds the screen switched back to the date and time: _Friday, July 24th..._

"It's the _same day_."

"Eh?"

Feeling her knees start to fold as the adrenaline keeping her standing fizzled out her system all at once, Ruiko took two steps back and landed in a graceless heap atop the still-snoring 'Yomikawa-senpai.' Tessou-san was suddenly at her side and fussing over her but Ruiko couldn't summon the focus to pay attention to what the older woman was saying.

_"I'm back..."_

* * *

0

* * *

_Where is she?_

Taking a furtive look around, Uiharu Kazari pressed the buzzer again. It was past curfew and she didn't want to get in trouble but Saten had practically _begged_ her to come over. Now that she was standing outside of Saten's apartment, however, something was clearly amiss. Taking out her phone, Uiharu tried calling again. She could faintly hear a ringtone on the other side of the door but after a few seconds the call went to voicemail and she hung up.

The situation was starting to feel worryingly familiar. It had only been a day since Saten had woken from her coma; what if she'd collapsed again? Kiyama Harumi had assured them that the Level Upper users would be fine once they were disconnected from the network and the doctors had given Saten a clean bill of health, but-

_"UU~ II~ HAA~ RUU~!" _The knot of fear in Uiharu's chest evaporated as a cool evening breeze blew across the backs of her thighs.

"Saten-san!?" she accused, her hands reflexively going to her behind as she spun around, but Uiharu was greeted by nothing but empty air and a funny look from the tall, red-haired man standing on the third-floor walkway of the building across the street. Sketching a polite bow, Uiharu quickly looked away.

This time the click of a latch turning was all the warning Uiharu got before a bright yellow light flooded over her shoulders and she felt herself being lifted off her feet and drawn through the air by the straps of her backpack like a cow caught in the clutches of tractor beam. Slipping free half by accident, Uiharu landed awkwardly and turned to face her captor before any 'probing' could occur. _"Saten-sampf-!?"_

The kiss was clumsy and probably meant for her cheek but it still managed to stun Uiharu speechless until Saten's rib-shattering hug squeezed the breath from her lungs. She caught one final glimpse of the gaping, red-faced man across the street before the door swung shut and Saten twirled her limp form into the room.

_"UU~ II~ HAA~ RUU~! UU~ II~ HAA~ RUU~! UU~ II~ HAA~ RUU~ KAA~ ZAA~ RII~!"_ Flopping back onto the bed with a dull thump, Saten dragged Uiharu down and buried her face in the crook of the smaller girls neck.

"W-wait- what-" Clutching vainly at the sheets, Uiharu tried to get her breathing under control and wriggle out of her friend's crushing embrace.

Her struggles weakened slightly as she felt the first warm droplet slide down her collarbone. "...Saten-san, what's wrong?" she asked softly, attempting to pull away again, but the crying girl refused to give an inch. Sniffling, Saten redoubled her iron grip, wringing a gasp of pain from her captive. "T-too tight!"

This produced the desired effect as Saten unlocked her arms and let Uiharu breathe. "S-sorry, guess I don't know my own strength," she mumbled thickly, not lifting her head from Uiharu's chest. "Nothing's wrong, I- I just... I'm happy to see you - _I missed you,_" she added with a transparently hopeful lilt.

"But we saw each other just this morning," Uiharu pointed out.

"I haven't seen you _since this morning_," Saten corrected with a hiccuping chuckle. She didn't _sound_ upset, but the wet patch on the front of Uiharu's dress said otherwise. "T-twelve hours is too long. I get worried! What if you had to pee while I was gone and you forgot to pull up your panties afterward?"

The fading fires lighting Uiharu's cheeks exploded back to life. "_That only happened once!_ And it's because you were standing outside talking to me!" Swallowing her embarrassment, Uiharu sat up and straddled Saten's legs to get a better look at the other girl's face but her efforts were foiled when Saten lifted the hem of her dress and hid under it.

"Saten-san, tell me what's wrong!" Uiharu pleaded. Grabbing Saten's wrists, she tried to force them down but it was like fighting one of the weight machines in the Judgement training center. "Please, let me help!"

"There's nothing wrong!" Saten repeated, her voice muffled but cheery. "But If you wanna do something for me-" Cold fingers dancing up her sides made Uiharu lift her arms with a ticklish shudder and a moment later Saten was flipping a bundle of pink fabric into the air and Uiharu was clad only in her underwear.

"_Ack- _what are you-"

"-you can cut my hair!" Holding Uiharu's dress over her head like a veil, Saten gave her a tear-streaked grin. "We wouldn't want to get any clippings on your dress though, right?" She waved the garment in question for emphasis.

For the second time in as many minutes Uiharu felt like the top of her head was going to pop off. "_Say that first!_" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chemise and looking away. "_Honestly! _Why do you always have to do things that people will misunderstand, like- like..." Brushing her fingers lightly over her lips, Uiharu felt her ears start to burn.

"I don't mean to!" Saten replied, her voice muffled once again. "I just do what feels right." Out of the corner of her eye Uiharu saw Saten taking off her own battered yellow T-shirt. The shirt was marked by a number of dark stains, especially over the right shoulder, and Saten seemed to be wearing _chest wrappings_ under it rather than a bra, but before Uiharu could ask about either of these peculiarities something else caught her eye.

"Saten-san..._ your hair..._"

* * *

0

* * *

"...Uiharu, while I would personally agree that diligent maintenance is only common courtesy, I do not think that Saten-san's intimate grooming habits are a matter that you should be discussing with others."

Staring confusedly at her coworker, Uihraru decided that she was missing something. "Shirai-san, by 'intimate grooming,' you mean...?"

"Places that a less _fastidious_ maiden might only be concerned with in the _bedroom_," Kuroko explained with a hint of amusement. Brushing one long pigtail over her shoulder, she turned to look at the front of the lobby where Misaka was talking with the pair of Tokiwadai swim team girls that had accompanied them. "Or at the beach, perhaps; I must say, Saten-san's timing is uncanny as always."

Already somewhat pink from her retelling of the previous night's ordeal, Uiharu flushed crimson as she realized what the other girl was talking about."_What?!_ I didn't- you _can't_ think that we- that _Saten-san_ was-"

"-Making sport of you by asking for assistance with a _troublesome_ area?" Kuroko quirked an eyebrow. "It seems like the logical conclusion. Saten-san invited you to her apartment late at night and when you arrived she snuck up on you and stole a kiss before sweeping you off your feet and into her bed, where she tearfully declared that she couldn't stand to be apart from you. After you had both undressed you noticed that Saten-san had a rather shocking amount of hair in certain places-"

_"On her head!" _Uiharu blurted, her fingers curling into claws as she resisted the urge to tear out her own hair. "Saten-san's fringe was messy and uneven like it hadn't been cut in _months!_ I wasn't talking about- about- _down there!_ She didn't take off her _underwear_ - and you left out a bunch of important details!" _She makes it sound like Saten-san and I are doing... __**things**__- things that friends don't do!_

"Then perhaps you should endeavor to explain matters more clearly," Kuroko chastised with a moue of disappointment. "I simply tried to pick out the salient points."

_Those points only follow if your name is Shirai Kuroko!_ "The _important_ part... is that something strange has happened to Saten-san," Uiharu protested, lowering her voice when Misaka glanced their way; the Level 5 was a good friend but she could be even worse than Kuroko about jumping into things and Uiharu didn't want to worry her.

Fortunately, Kuroko seemed to be considering her story more carefully. Putting one finger to her chin, the twin-tailed esper looked down at the floor, lost in thought. "Hmm... aside from the crying, nothing you have described seems terribly out of character for Saten-san - and with regard to her _hair_, are you certain that she had not simply done a poor job of trying to cut it herself?" Kuroko peered at her skeptically.

"It was _hanging down in her eyes_," Uiharu rebutted. "It wasn't like that yesterday morning."

"Hmm... extensions?"

"I don't think so." Swinging her backpack over her shoulder, Uiharu produced a clear plastic baggie, holding it up for Kuroko to see. Inside was a bundle of thumb-length clippings that she'd palmed when they were sweeping the bathroom. "I don't think we can justify getting it analyzed, but it _felt_ like her real hair."

Kuroko gave her _that look_ again. "Well, then I suppose you shall just have to find _another_ use for it," she noted wryly. "Nevertheless, I suppose it is indeed rather _odd_. Have you questioned Saten-san about this directly?"

Uiharu nodded, reluctantly deciding to let Kuroko's first comment go unanswered. "She wouldn't tell me what happened but she promised she would explain it later, once she'd had a chance to prepare some things."

"Is that what she's doing right now?" Kuroko guessed.

"Maybe," Uiharu agreed worriedly. "When I called her this morning she said she'd meet us here after buying a new battery for her phone, but last night she asked me to look up a couple things for her. One was a shop that could develop photo film and the other was a street address that turned out to be in _District 10_, but it was at least a decade out of date; it was from before the land was purchased and redeveloped. I gave her the addresses for three camera stores nearby, but..."

"-But what business would Saten-san have in _that place?_" Kuroko finished for her, this time with a frown to match her own."You told her you would look into the other address?" At Uiharu's nod, she continued. "Did you find out what is there now?"

"It's residential; mostly single-family dwellings since there hasn't been much housing demand in that area - and Saten-san _did_ say she was looking for a friend's house," she added hastily. After the Level Upper she wanted to believe that Saten would know better than to get involved in anything shady..._ unless-_

"Another Level Upper user, perhaps?" the teleporter mused, as if reading her mind. "A few Skill Outs from the Strange were hospitalized in the same facility as Saten-san. Did she give you a-"

**_"RYOUGA-KUN!"_**

Both Judgement members were already turning toward the familiar voice when a crash, a shriek and several screams of terror echoed through the hall. A rolling travel bag had struck the doors of the lobby and out of it was slithering the biggest snake Uiharu had ever seen - which also explained the screaming, as the Tokiwadai girls scrambled to get as far away from it as possible.

The shriek had presumably come from the girl the cream colored, floral-patterned kimono. She looked to be about their age and had long, dark hair and a sharp-featured face that was currently locked in a breathless grimace as Saten gripped her around the waist and spun her through the air. From the outside the ritual almost looked _fun_ but Uiharu knew from experience that the stranger probably felt otherwise. Nearby, dressed in exercise clothes, Konori-senpai was circling cautiously toward the snake.

"Um... we should probably stop them before someone gets hurt," Uiharu suggested sheepishly. "Misaka-san looks really upset and I actually have bruises from when Saten-san hugged me last night."

Kuroko gave her an assessing glance before turning back to scene of chaos before them. "_Must_ we?" she asked with a sigh of distaste. "Well, I suppose if Saten-san manages to injure her she will only become _more_ insufferable."

"Oh? An acquaintance of yours?"

"_Kongou Mitsuko_ - and I would very much prefer it were otherwise."

* * *

0

* * *

"Hello Hibiki-san, this is Patrol Officer Koizumi Jun at the No. 4047 Kitamachi Neighborhood police station in Nerima District, Tokyo. We've apprehended your daughter for fighting with a panhandler outside of Kitamachi Market during school hours. We would appreciate it if you would call us at 0-3-4671-5076 and arrange to have her picked up. Thank you."

Hanging up the phone in the cradle on the wall, the clean-cut, middle-aged police officer sat down in the folding chair on the opposite side of the desk and steepled his fingers in front of his face. "It seems like there's nobody home. Do know where your mother is right now, _Hibiki_-san?" he prodded expectantly.

"Probably... shopping?" Ryouga ventured, scratching her cheek. The last note her mother had left had said as much, but that was almost four months ago - and the note itself had looked weeks old when she and Ruiko had found it. There was a reasonable chance that her mother had found her way back since then.

"Hmm..." Favoring her with a mildly suspicious look, the officer lowered one hand, propping his chin with the other. "Well, you'd better get comfortable then; you'll be staying right here until we get this resolved," he warned, lightly tapping a knuckle against the top of the desk. If Ryouga had to take a guess she'd say that he was still mad at her for not having a student ID to show him - or at least not one with_ 'her' _picture on it.

Fighting down a scowl, Ryouga leaned back in her own seat and crossed her arms over her painfully empty stomach. _If you're gonna treat me like a criminal then at least offer me a bowl of ramen or something!_ She couldn't remember why they always did that in cop shows but right now she felt like she'd confess to almost _anything_ for a good meal. The forage around cities was poor and she'd eaten her last cup of instant ramen days ago. _If only we hadn't wasted so much money on that damn hotel room._

The memory of the disaster in Thailand made her stomach sink for an entirely different reason: Nobody answering at her house meant that Ruiko hadn't made it back yet either. _But it's only been... three weeks, right? Without my 'power' getting back to Japan might take awhile,_ Ryouga told herself, updating the mantra that she'd recited every time she found herself near a payphone with change in her pocket._ I'm sure she's fine. She can take care of herself and If she gets into any __**real**__ trouble she'll use the curse to get away._

Actually, as much as she was loathe to go flashing it around, her own Jusenkyou curse might get her out of waiting here until they decided to drag her off to the district police station for detention. Scanning the room, Ryouga spied a kettle sitting on an electric hot plate in the corner, probably for making tea, and behind her she knew there was a door leading to either a storage closet or a restroom. Maybe she could ask for a cup of tea and some privacy to change into dry clothes?

Picking at her damp yellow tunic, Ryouga gnashed her teeth in frustration. _What kind of bastard throws __**dirty water**__ in a fight - and how the hell was I supposed to know that was 'his spot?!' _Now she smelled funny (but thankfully not _sewage_ funny) and she had no clean clothes left... except for _that._ Running down her mental list of people who would someday taste her righteous fists of vengeance, Ryouga double-underlined the name 'Daitou Masa,' heir to the Daito School of Mystical Hobo Martial Arts.

_Why am I the only one they arrested, anyway?_ Lifting her chin, Ryouga was about to ask just that when her gaze caught on a splotch of red swimming in a sea of blue and black on the other side of the sliding glass doors that served as the tiny police station's front wall. A nearby high school must have let out for the day, disgorging a wave of students into the streets, but Ryouga only had eyes for the one boy in the crowd not wearing a uniform.

_"Saotome Ranma,"_ she hissed unconsciously, earning herself a hard look from the officer on the other side of the desk. As he turned to look over his shoulder Ryouga stood abruptly, startling him. "I need to change," she explained tersely, indicating the large backpack sitting beside the desk.

After a tense moment the policeman inclined his head toward the door at the back of the room. "The bathroom's behind you."

Ryouga absently nodded her thanks and snatched up her bag, nearly ripping the bathroom door off its hinges as she spun around and ducked inside. The tiled stall, lit by a single naked bulb, was barely big enough for a squat toilet and a sink. A cracked mirror was mounted on the inside of the door, apparently as an afterthought.

_This is perfect!_ Ryouga exulted, clenching her fist in victory. She'd totally forgotten to ask for a cup of tea but since the mystery door led to a bathroom she didn't need to! On top of that, after she ground his smug face into the dirt Ranma would be able to guide her home! _I might even be able to beat a meal out of the jerk! _She didn't know which gods she had pleased today, but maybe one of them had something against dirty-fighting hobos.

Carefully setting her bag down so it wouldn't fall in the toilet, Ryouga ran the hot water. Now she just needed to figure out a way to distract the policeman while she snuck out. Grinning like a madwoman, Ryouga put her cupped hands under the faucet - and felt her perfect plan fall to pieces as cool water trickled through her fingers. Fiddling with the other tap produced no change; the water was room temperature at best. _"GOD DAMMIT!"_ Ryouga roared, slamming her palms down on the corners of sink only to flinch as she heard something crack and the porcelain basin crumbled at her feet, spraying water everywhere.

"Hey! What's going on in there?" The irate voice of the police officer shouted through the door.

"N-nothing! Just- just- _girl stuff!_" Ryouga called back, swallowing queasily as she crimped the broken pipes with between her thumb and forefinger. As effective as she knew that excuse to be against members of her true gender, she _never_ wanted to use it again. Just _thinking_ about it made her skin crawl.

Fortunately, it seemed that the officer agreed, for he didn't even reply. Ryouga released a sigh of relief as she hear the scrape and creak of the man settling back into his chair. _Unfortunately_, she now had no time to change back into a boy; heating water for tea would take way too long and every second she dawdled was another second that Ranma had to make his escape! She would just have to confront him as a girl.

Stripping off her freshly soaked clothes, Ryouga stuffed them in the 'dirty' bag and pulled out her last clean outfit, holding it up for inspection. The school uniform wasn't _exactly_ like Ruiko's, but it was close enough for her purposes; sailor-style uniforms all had basically the same trimmings. Ryouga's... _practice set_ was a long-sleeved winter uniform and the pleated skirt was hemmed to ankle length. It was very modest as skirts went - _exceedingly_ modest. Why, as long as you didn't move around too much it was almost like wearing pants!

"...It's a good chance to test _nǚ xuéshēng quán_ against a strong opponent," she told herself through clenched teeth as she wound a gymnastics ribbon around her chest and cinched it tight with a snap of the wrist. The uniform top followed, and despite herself Ryouga felt better about not being a sodden mess anymore. "I can't teach these techniques to Ruiko-san if I don't know all their strengths and weaknesses - and Ranma will never guess that it's me! If he so much as _asks_ if we've met before I'll _gouge his goddamn eyes out!_"

Unable to put it off any longer, Ryouga wrenched her stare from the hated skirt to regard the _even more hated_ pair of simple white panties that went with it. Ruiko had _repeatedly_ told her under no uncertain terms that _nothing else_ was acceptable under a skirt - even though practically_ anything else _would have more utility in a fight. Panties were the _'Soul of the Schoolgirl,'_ apparently.

Ryouga was still dubious, but... _We all make sacrifices for the art; we all make sacrifices for the art; we all make sacrifices for the art..._ Slipping them on with her eyes screwed shut, Ryouga stepped into the skirt and buttoned the side before opening her eyes to put her slippers back on. Haphazardly throwing things into her bag, she faced the door and girded herself for a quick escape; she had no time left for subtlety.

"_Ack!_ I almost forgot!" Raising her eyes to the mirror again, Ryouga pulled her bandana down and rearranged it so that it covered her nose and mouth like a mask - since apparently her teeth were too _unique_ to ignore, according to Ruiko.

The new arrangement made her look like a bandit, which was kind of cool and definitely not feminine _at all_ - but now her hair was tickling her jaw and obstructing her vision. She tried using one bandana to hold it back but that looked incredibly stupid so in the end she just brushed to one side and clipped it - and tried _very hard_ not to think about the wide selection of hair decs she owned. _Some of them make good weapons if you throw them hard enough!_

Now that she was _sure_ she was ready - and double sure that the side of her skirt was _completely closed_ and at no risk of coming loose at an inopportune moment - Ryouga hooked her arm through the straps of her backpack and took her umbrella in her other hand. Crouching low, she leapt at the door, leading with her shoulder.

The flimsy compressed wood exploded outward on impact, plate sized chunks flying in a cloud of dust. The police officer, still sitting at his desk, was so surprised that he didn't even have time to stand before Ryouga knocked him out with a tap to the back of the head. Closing her eyes briefly, Ryouga offered a silent apology. _Sorry sir - but that damn hobo started it!_

Bursting out into the street, Ryouga frantically looked left and right, afraid that she'd taken too long, but then she spotted her pigtailed prey at the end of the block. **_"SAOTOME RANMA, I CHALLENGE YOU!"_** she bellowed, leveling the tip of her weapon at her foe's back. At the same time the crowd of students near the police box started to bubble with curious whispers.

Ranma turned around to look at her, his hands still casually stuffed in his pockets. After a long moment he seemed to come to a decision. Turning to the long-haired girl standing at his side, Ranma handed her his school bag and started walking back down the street. "Ya got a name?" he asked blandly, once he was close enough to be heard without shouting.

"Th-that's none of your business!" Ryouga snapped, her blood already singing with nervous tension. "Well, are you going to fight me or what?!"

Her rival just shrugged, pulling his hands out of his pockets and limbering up his shoulders and neck. "Saotome Ranma of the Saotome Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū never turns down a challenge," he declared haughtily. "I was just wonderin' if ya had some _reason_ you wanted ta get yer ass kicked by me _today_."

_...WHY THE HELL AM I FIGHTING HIM __**NOW?!**_ She could have saved the challenge until _after_ he led her home and she changed back into a boy! Besides, if she beat Ranma as a _girl_ her victory wouldn't be nearly as sweet since Ranma wouldn't even know it was her! Feeling a bead of cold sweat trickle down the back of her neck, Ryouga desperately tried to recall the line of reasoning that had led her here.

Then, as if stirred from its slumber by the scent of her enemy, her stomach emitted an absolutely _bestial_ growl of primal hunger and Ryouga was enlightened! "I'm going to make you eat those words, Saotome Ranma! I challenge you to a duel of- of _hospitality! _If I win you have to buy me dinner and... um... take me somewhere!"

"...So if I win yer buyin', right? Challenge accepted!"

"Er... I don't-"

"_Ugh!_ I cannot _believe_ you, Ranma! She just challenged you for a _date!_"

* * *

**A Certain Wandering Martial Artist**

* * *

Thanks to Scriviner for beta-reading! Comments, criticisms and reviews are appreciated!

~Eimii


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